Doctors Add Their Voice – Don’t Privatize Air Ambulance Service

MGEU Director of Member Services, Janet Kehler, addresses media this morning to talk about a recent letter sent from 16 Lifeflight medical doctors to the government. The letter says they have serious concerns about the risks of privatizing the program.

Nov 05, 2018

This weekend a letter surfaced from 16 medical
doctors from the Lifeflight Air Ambulance program highlighting their concerns for
patient and staff safety if the service is privatized.

The
letter offers several criticisms of the government’s risky plan to privatize
Lifeflight. In the letter’s conclusion the doctors emphasize: "We, the
medical staff of Lifeflight Manitoba air ambulance, wish to make it clear that
we are not prepared to work in an environment that provides substandard patient
care and increases risk to patients and providers."

“These are highly skilled and trained medical
professionals with years of critical life saving experience. The government
ought to listen to them,” said President Gawronsky. “The letter clearly shows that there has been
a rush to privatize this service and what the doctors call, ‘a complete lack of
medical consultation in this process.’ ”

For months, the MGEU has been waving the red flag
about how risky privatizing the air ambulance service is. The union commissioned
Breakwater Group to do a comprehensive
report on the service, which included research and
expert analysis showing this rush to privatize emergency air ambulance service
is short-sighted and unsafe.

The doctors also used the letter to underscore
that northern Manitoba families will be forced to endure longer transport times
and care will be compromised by moving to a private system. The doctors stressed that this, ‘creates two
tiers of care in Manitoba.’

“We agree with the doctors, including flight
nurses, pilots and the maintenance crew that all Manitobans deserve the right to
access safe, reliable emergency patient care no matter where they live,” said
Gawronsky. “Rushing to privatize this
service is too risky and we’re calling on the government to focus on improving
this critical public service, not rip it apart.”